LSU Fan’s House Presents Unusual Challenges

A split-level yellow house has just hit the market last week in New Orleans and brings along a mountain of goodies for just the right person: Jacuzzi, pool table, tons of free LSU gear, several Marilyn Monroe and Frank Sinatra posters, and some large photographs of President Donald Trump. Not to mention the purple and gold coffin which was used only for the deceased owner and then placed back inside the home because “there was no where else to put it.”

The owner, Lee “Big Lee” Martin, 53, was killed in a dispute with his 78-year-old next-door neighbor, who is now in jail awaiting trial on second-degree murder. The broker of the home retained by the decedent’s family in Texas, Matthew Grass, believes that he will be able to sell the home quickly despite its recent notoriety. “I understand human beings, in general, are curious,” he said. “But my job is to sell the real estate, and that’s what I’m doing here.”

“Big Lee” had always been an interesting character and an avid LSU fan, and his collection of LSU memorabilia was astounding. Grass says that he has been contacted by collectors but as of now the gear is being sold with the house. “It’s being sold as lagniappe. We live in Louisiana; that’s lagniappe.”

See Chad Calder, With ‘Lagniappe’ LSU Gear, Notoriety, Selling ‘Big Lee’ Martin’s House Present Unusual Challenges, New Orleans Advocate, July 17, 2018.

Special thanks to Elizabeth R. Carter (Judge Anthony J. Graphia & Jo Ann Graphia Professor of Law, LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center) for bringing this article to my attention.